Dream At Dusk
by Arabella Nadie
Summary: She always dreamed of having a family. Now that Maggie's dreams become her reality, she's finally found a mother in Esme and a father in Carlisle. But in all of their years none of them had ever heard of a sleeping vampire. They have no idea how to keep her thirst from controlling her dreams.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I know I've been gone for almost two months or so but I've literally had to move my entire life across the world to another continent I'd never stepped foot on until now. To celebrate breaking my leave of absence, here's an extended first chapter of the Twilight universe fic I mentioned earlier. I began writing this three or four years ago and I haven't changed any of the content so I'm not completely happy with the style but I have a lot of plans for this story and can't wait to develop it into what is possibly a collection of fanfics.

Basically, this story takes place in the Twilight universe pre-Bella moving to Forks (though that will come up very soon) when a newborn vampire named Maggie who is a young teenager stumbles across the Cullen Clan. There's nothing romantic or sexual in the plot (yet, hehe but I've been waiting for YEARS to set this character up with one of the Denali girls) and it's more focused on the family bonding esp. the mother-daughter relationship between the main character and Esme.

Oh, also, new Nat fic coming out soon.

Maggie

Two things ran through Maggie's mind when she came across the house in the woods. Number one: She was scared that she would catch someone's scent and so she planned to turn around and run. Number two: She couldn't stop wondering what kind of job the owner of the house had. Were they an heir to a family company? A part of the mafia? Lottery winner? But the longer she stayed to admire the architecture of the serene, modern home with the perfect location in the middle of the woods, she began to realize that its residents weren't exactly normal people.

She flinched when her eyes landed on what could only be human hair. Her body automatically engaged itself to pounce although in her mind she begged that she'd have the strength to pull away and send herself running in the opposite direction. However, she found that she didn't need to. Even though she had recently obtained perfect sight, she rubbed her eyes as if she were in a trance before taking another look at the woman inside the house. She had the most beautiful and voluptuous brunette curls that framed her kind face so well and a soft smile that seemed to soothe Maggie's nerves even while she was scrambling to figure out what was going on.

The problem was that there was no smell. There was absolutely no scent of blood.

At first, Maggie instinctively grabbed her neck trying to feel if it was still sensitive from the primal urge to drink. She secretly hoped that her newfound affliction had simply run out its course, but was disappointed to find the cravings inside of her still burned all throughout her throat. Then, examining the woman even closer, she noticed something strangely off about her appearance. I mean of course she was absolutely stunning and Maggie thought she looked like an angel, but then she started to wonder if the woman happened to look a little too perfect to be real.

Maggie knew she should be going, but was too caught up in her fascination with this person and how dream-like she appeared. There wasn't a blemish on her skin which was, coincidentally, exactly what Maggie had first noticed when she had woken up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Other things like her absolute perfect posture and unnatural grace and poise also gave it away too. She must've been like Maggie. But then she was caught in the light of those piercing golden eyes.

Maggie carefully unzipped her backpack, which held the last of her possessions, and took out the compact mirror that was shaped like a purple seashell. She smiled briefly looking at it, remembering what few happy memories from her childhood that it carried, before opening it to check her own face. But it was just as she suspected: Red eyes.

The sound of the front door opening caused her to slam her mirror shut so fast she almost would've broken the glass were it not for her dangerously keen precision. She counted one, two, three bodies as they left out the front door and began walking in her direction. There was still no smell of human blood for miles which also explained how the three figures seemed to surround the base of the tree she was perched in so quickly.

There was probably no point in running for Maggie. She figured that if these folk were much more of the….. experienced type (just based on how sophisticated and settled their lifestyle was compared to hers) then they could easily chase her down pretty swiftly. So she opted to remain as quiet and still as possible and foolishly clung to the hope that they might not have noticed her yet.

"Good evening," the sound of one of the male figures confirmed that she had, indeed, been spotted. She winced back instinctively at first but then unclenched her tightened muscles as she started realize that his tone wasn't hostile. "My name is Carlisle Cullen and these are two of my children. We live in the house just nearby that you must have seen. We'd be happy to host you there and offer you shelter and a shower."

Maggie certainly wasn't the expert on her species, but didn't assume that they would be the type to live in packs just based off of how the media portrayed them. Weren't they supposed to dwell all alone in the ruins of ancient castles and sleep in festering coffins? This man had used the word "family" however, as if there was some type of normalcy to them. It certainly intrigued the young girl but she also made sure to take precaution with such information. They might have been trying to lure her down after all.

"Carlisle, I don't think she…" the sad, shorter brown haired male mumbled to who must have been the groups leader.

"We're different too. Just like you," the littlest of them, a rather small brunette with a pixie cut who almost looked as small as Maggie herself, chimed in grabbing at her curiosity once again. "I know it's pretty crazy and a lot to take in but we can help answer all of your questions."

As tempting as the prospect seemed, Maggie stood her ground. She might have been young but it wasn't like she was born yesterday, right?

A chuckle broke from down below and it seemed like the gloomy one was laughing at her for some reason, yet she hadn't said anything! "I'm sorry," he then apologized. "My name is Edward. Edward Cullen. Might I ask what yours is?"

The two syllables rested just on the tips of the poor girl's lips but she didn't dare speak. Strangely, it didn't seem to matter because he already knew her name.

"Her name's Maggie," she heard him speak before the female of the group suddenly got super still, the name triggering her. Even compared to the other two she was distinctively paler all of a sudden and looked to be completely frozen from what Maggie could tell.

"Alice, what do you see?" Edward gently rested his hand on her shoulder almost as if he was nudging her back into consciousness.

"S-She was one of us," her voice had gotten ten times more quiet and it wavered in the harsh winds that surrounded Maggie up in the trees so that she couldn't hear the next few words that were said. All she could see was Alice speaking before Carlisle's mouth moved as if he were asking her a question. "And Esme… Esme! We need to get Esme right now! Edward, go!"

He was gone before the last few words had left her mouth, leaving Maggie alone with the other two down below her. If he had run back to fetch someone else then now was probably the best chance she had of slipping out of there before she would be even more outnumbered. Desperate but unsure of herself, Maggie hesitated to make the jump over to the next tree. Even though she felt like she could make it, she didn't want to overestimate her abilities and risk falling.

"Make a decision. Go. Now! No, don't! Not there!" Her mind raced as she kept prepping to jump before psyching herself out. After only a few failed attempts at that she could hear two more figures running back towards her. It was too late.

The only expendable plan she had left was to climb as high as she could to the very top of the tree. Maggie felt like her heart should be in her throat by now but still managed to map out a route she could take through the branches as she looked up in despair. She was just about to reach her hand out and begin her ascent when a new voice stopped her.

"The poor thing, she looks scared to death. Edward, you should have just let her introduce herself when she felt ready. Just imagine what kind of crazy conclusions she could have come to with you vocalizing what you read so openly. She must be terrified!" The voice flowed so musically that it almost made her words sound like music. To Maggie's surprise, it was coming from the same woman she had seen in the window. For some reason, that almost made her worries evaporate up and into the clouds far beyond the tree tops that she was know reconsidering escaping to.

"Sorry, Esme."

Then, she spoke again. And each word seemed to pull Maggie down closer and closer to meet her. "I apologize that my family frightened you. I'm Esme Cullen. Would you mind telling me your name? I spotted you earlier from my window and was sad to see you run off so soon and before I could get to know you."

How could she sound so genuine and non-threatening that it seemed to relieve Maggie of all of her normal suspicions? She had never trusted anybody and certainly not just upon meeting them, but something in her gentle voice and soft, encouraging smile soothed over whatever fears she had.

"Maggie. Just Maggie…"

Her eyes seemed to light up when she finally answered. "Well, Maggie, that's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I'd love for you to come down so we could talk more. It wouldn't have to be with anyone else either, just me and you if that's more comfortable."

Almost as if on cue, the two men immediately raced off back to the house to leave them alone. The little one, Alice, shuffled behind for a little while with an obvious look of concern on her face. Esme merely gave her an affirming nod before the small brunette gave a pleasant wave to Maggie before zooming off after the others.

Timidly making her way down the tree, Maggie tried to move with a bit of haste while still being as careful as possible not to loose her footing during the descent. She didn't want to be rude and keep the kind lady waiting for her so she eventually sped up to a speed a little past her usual comfort zone and was soon greeted by the familiar feeling of the ground underneath her feet as well. She turned to find that she was even more beautiful up close and that she hadn't been wrong thinking that the woman would radiate a sense of happiness all around her.

"Hi, I'm Esme," she stuck out her hand accompanied by a big smile. Esme was, of course, by nature a hugger but didn't want to make the young girl uncomfortable if she didn't like much physical contact. A flash of nervousness in her eyes seemed to prove her right, but eventually she slowly reached out her hand to meet hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Taking a minute to study her face, Maggie was surprised to see that Esme's facial expression remained pleasantly calm as a reaction. She seemed to completely understand Maggie's reason for staring and wasn't offended in the slightest like Maggie feared she might have been.

"You're… like me… aren't you?" she struggled to find the right words but was grateful Esme knew what she meant.

"Yes, I am," she smiled in response. "And I'm sure you have lots of questions. I certainly did when Carlisle changed me."

The mentioning of the man with the golden hair made something click in Maggie's mind. When he had spoken of his family, she assumed he must've been the father-figure then. That would make Esme the wife and mother.

Mother.

"So, you two are together? And the others are your children? But not due to biology but because he changed all of you?"

"Well, yes, yes, and sort of," she replied with a small chuckle at how quick the young one was to connect the dots. "You picked that up rather quickly, huh? Yes, Carlisle changed Edward to save him from death but soon found him to be a comforting companion to help fill a sense of emptiness that he had carried with him from being lonely for so long. Not too long after that, he did the same with me. I just happened to be the one to fall in love with him."

"When was this?"

"Hmm," Esme had to take a moment to think about the question. In many ways she felt that she had known Carlisle for thousands of lifetimes and couldn't think of how to express their relationship in terms of relative time, which had seemed so insignificant after all these years. "I suppose it was 90 years ago or so but I remember it all like it was yesterday."

Esme carefully mirrored Maggie's cautious pace as she began to slow down. She watched with curiosity as a sense of contemplation overtook the girl who had suddenly become engrossed with her surroundings. Her eyes caught on everything up above them as she studied the details of each tree in the forest amongst the sea of dark, heavy green.

"I used to think it was impossible for any other living thing to be as old as the trees," she said almost dazed by her own realization as it was dawning upon her just as she spoke. "But I guess I was wrong…" Then with an abrupt halt her entire demeanor changed as the concept of immortality seemed to sink in. To Maggie, it seemed more like a curse the more and more she felt the burning in her throat grow. "I don't think I can live like this forever. It's been a week, maybe, and I don't want to hurt anybody so I've been avoiding people but it just keeps getting worse."

Esme instinctively went to wrap her arm around her shoulders which she was then glad didn't make her run away. She could tell she was definitely a newborn but hadn't realized she'd been denying her own thirst since she'd awoken. It amazed her thinking of the strength and discipline that this young child had in her. "You don't have to live that way or either of those ways, Maggie. My family and I only hunt animals and for the most part it allows us to interact fairly normally in human society. We can show you."

"Animal blood?" Maggie's eyes quickly darkened at the mere realization that there was another, viable food source for her. She didn't really care what it was and all she knew was that she craved it.

"Here, let me show you," Esme smiled as she unwrapped herself from holding her (which strangely left Maggie feeling somewhat empty) and offered her her hand. With very little need for time to make her decision, Maggie gladly reached for her and the older vampire went running off.

With a full belly and a new friend making her day much better than she expected, Maggie was much more easily coaxed into the Cullen house with how relaxed she now was. The promise of a shower also didn't hurt. As expected, she was a bit shy and kept her greetings quite short with the others (especially Emmett and Rosalie who she hadn't met yet) but felt this weird sense of calmness wash over and soothe her when being introduced to Jasper. She allowed herself to indulge in the glorious feeling of hot, clean water and took the opportunity to scrub herself down three times. After running around in the woods for days trying to avoid civilization, she certainly felt gross in her muddied skin and was glad to wash it off.

After rinsing out her hair and wrapping the towel around her body, she was surprised to step out of the bathroom and find a fresh new outfit of clothes laying out for her on the bed. She had overheard Alice trying to pick out a dress for her while she was in the bathroom, but was glad to see that she had gone for a simple pair of sweatpants and a warm hoodie instead. Maggie wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in some zipperless, fleece lined pants and be able to pull her sweatshirt sleeves over her hands. Not only was it extremely comfortable and an anxiety-soother for her, but she was also too scared to touch anything in the house. Everything from the intricately designed wallpapers to the delicate china vases looked way to expensive for her to accidentally ruin with her fingerprint smudges, or worse, by breaking them. Her new sense of strength was something she had yet to learn to control.

"Maggie," she heard Esme's voice carry from downstairs out and up through the airy halls. "Come join us we're just in the family room."

Carefully peeking around the corner of the steps, Maggie was met with the sight of all of the Cullens spread out and around the wide room which was beautifully decorated to no surprise. Edward was sitting at a baby grand piano and tried to offer as best as a smile as he could. Rosalie was the furthest away, standing next to the wall covered in bookshelves and though she wore a tight, slightly intimidating expression on her face, Maggie could have sworn she was trying to smile through the entire affair which surprised her. The tall, curt blonde didn't appear to be the most open and accepting of strangers, but then again, neither was Maggie. They weirdly seemed to see eye to eye as they both judged the other from a safe distance.

Alice was giggling gleefully as she swung her arm by her side that was also holding onto Jasper's hand. They were standing just behind a loveseat that was currently occupied by Emmett who had looked up with a giant grin on his face to wave at Maggie. Directly across from them was a longer couch where Carlisle and Esme sat side by side, his arm gently wrapped around her. It was unorthodox to say the least, but Maggie couldn't help but think they really did look like one happy family.

"Sit," Esme patted the space next to her on the couch. As she took her place, she noticed Rosalie and Edward began to circle around the rest of the group slowly approaching her. It weirdly felt like they were studying her which itched that certain bone in her body that always kept her uncomfortably alert in wary situations. Maggie recognized suspicion in another person's eyes when she saw it. The only difference between her and Rosalie (besides the fact that she seemed to be the goddess of supermodels) was that Maggie didn't have nearly as much self-confidence as the much taller, strikingly bold woman. She felt small compared to her. Edward just seemed to know much more than he was letting on, which had Maggie quite nervous too: Like how he knew her name in the woods.

"It's been quite a while since we've had a newborn join us," Carlisle spoke.

"A newborn? Like a newborn vampire?"

"Exactly, I told you she was very bright," Esme gently nudged Carlisle next to her as she wore a proud smile on her face. It almost made goosebumps crawl across Maggie's skin she felt so flattered.

"Within the first year of being turned, newborns are able to summon great power from the blood that still lingers in their veins. It makes them even stronger and faster than older vampires."

"But not stronger than me," Emmett cut in which made everyone chuckle.

"However, it's also the hardest to control your thirst during the first year," Carlisle continued.

"Maggie, when were you turned? Do you remember anything at all?" Edward asked the question they were all thinking of. It made a deep pain form in the middle of her chest.

"Maggie," Esme instinctively took the young girl's hands into her own to which Maggie made no protests. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. We all understand how painful this is to go through."

"It's okay," Maggie said so soon it even surprised herself. "I remember him clearly though he wasn't a nice man… not in the slightest."

If it were possible for tears to form in Alice's eyes, Maggie would've sworn that she could see her tearing up across from her. Jasper also gave Alice some comforting rubs which left Maggie to think her story must've been all to familiar for the usually perky person.

"He said he wanted my gift," she pressed her two lips together just remembering how his icy voice made her hair stick straight up. "When I woke up he had already tied me down with some chains but somehow I was able to break free and just barely outrun him…. And I've been running ever since just trying to keep away from people until I ran into you all. I think today is the fourth night for me."

"Where are you from?" Alice inquired, curious to know exactly how much ground she'd covered during that time.

"Originally? I don't know. But my orphanage was in New York, not the city though. A small town between Albany and Utica. I've basically lived there all my life." Silence.

"This gift… did he say what it was? Or how did he know that you would be gifted as a vampire?" Jasper was still hung up on that small detail that had suspicion written all over it to him. After all he had experienced he easily recognized a puppet-master playing vampire at work.

With everything that had happened to her in the past week or so that tiny bit of information had simply been one decodable mystery amongst the countless others; it hadn't occurred to her what he could have possibly meant. But now here she was with the Cullens, who had promised her answers, yet they seemed just as confused as she did. She gave herself a mental slap on the head for not remembering that detail earlier.

"I'm not sure," she frowned, disappointed that her mind was immediately rendered useless as the familiar feeling of numbness right behind her eyes left her confused and unable to process words. "It's fuzzy for some reason…. Could I sleep on it?"

Being a vampire took away the physiological function of blinking, but Esme couldn't help but do so in that moment as she was staring blankly at the girl's face.

"Maggie, we don't… We don't sleep."

"Ever?" Her voice wavered, dropping down to a soft whisper.

"No, we don't need to. We don't get tired, sweetheart."

It was a good thing that she was already seated on the couch because she immediately fell backwards, quite figuratively and literally, into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes at the end :)

Esme

"Is she really asleep?" Esme immediately went into concerned mother bear mode and was crouched over the strangely fragile looking vampire. Just a second ago she had been completely fine but now she appeared to have fainted if that were even possible.

"She is," Edward confirmed.

"A vampire sleeping? That isn't possible," Alice shook her head.

"Well, this is certainly the first case I've ever dealt with," Carlisle had ran upstairs to his room and was instantly back with a small flashlight in his hand. He proceeded to examine the whites of her eyes behind her stubbornly shut eyelids and frowned upon his examination.

"Carlisle, how could this be possible?" Esme heaved a heavy sigh of both concern and confusion as she desperately cradled the young girl's head in her hands.

"I don't know, I've never heard of something like this ever happening… except.."

"Except what?"

"What!?" Emmett screamed.

"Yes, exactly the point. What is-"

"No, what the HELL is GOING ON?!"

"EMMETT!" Rosalie shoved her boyfriend who was strangely freaking out.

"No, where is this water coming from?"

"EW, MY SHOES!" Rosalie suddenly joined the panic, thankful that her vampiric agility allowed her to step out of the way before the growing puddle that had consumed the area Emmett was standing in spread even further. Besides one of Esme's vases of flowers (which weren't even close to where they were at the moment) no one could think of a way that water could have possibly spilled onto the floor and the source was entirely untraceable. It seemed to be forming on its own.

"These are Louboutins!"

"Carlisle, something's wrong with her she's shaking," Esme was deeply concerned about the face of utter discomfort that was now on Maggie's face as her unconscious body tossed and turned from side to side. It was as if she were having a nightmare.

Chaos had erupted in the Cullen household as they tried to deal with their new sleeping vampire and the mysterious water on the floor that had probably ruined the spotless carpeting. That was the least of their concerns, however, and was a thought that hadn't even occurred to Esme who was now calling out Maggie's name begging her to wake up.

"Maggie? Maggie can you hear us?"

"Maggie?" Carlisle gently shook the young newborn by her shoulder, yet she still remained as lifeless as ever on the couch. Had she not been slightly shifting her body in her sleep then the lack of a heartbeat and human warmth would have made her completely indistinguishable from a corpse. Esme frantically began yelling louder, almost crying though it was physiologically impossible for her.

"Wait!" Edward interrupted trying to settle the panic and focused his mind on a specific stream of thoughts that had popped up on his radar. "I think she's dreaming," he went on to explain that Maggie was having a sort of nightmare from what he could tell. Her consciousness wasn't entirely aware of what was going on but she was still reacting to the situation she had dreamt up and a few thoughts were able to be filtered out.

The same thought of hers kept repeating in Edward's mind. It was a line from an old English ballad that he hadn't thought about in years. But now that this girl's mind was screaming it incessantly while she was stuck inside of herself, gazing at the floor and the giant puddle gradually consuming them he began to understand just how haunting those words by Samuel Taylor Coleridge were:

" 'Water, water, everywhere!' Over and over again. It's like her mind is screaming it."

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner…." Carlisle muttered to himself upon hearing those infamous words, leaving Esme alone in trying to wake up Maggie.

"Maggie, it's just a dream. It's just a nightmare," she pleaded. "Please wake up, sweetheart. Maggie?"

"Esme, I think it's working. Keep trying," Edward began hearing a hint of hesitation in Maggie's stream of thoughts that seemed to be in reaction to hearing her name.

"Maggie? Maggie?"

Maggie

There was nothing but dark, suffocating sea water for miles and miles in every direction. And with every time those words kept repeating themselves it was like she sunk further and further below the surface and into a bottomless abyss. She couldn't tell if her inner ears were about to explode because of the water flooding into them or those damned words digging themselves into each and every last safe corner of her mind. But then something else seemed to be there as well. It was like a tiny little bubble floating down to her from the light.

"Maggie? Maggie?"

Someone else was down there with her. It must've been someone she knew.

"Maggie"

That voice.

"Maggie?"

The lady in the window.

"Maggie!"

Esme. Esme Cullen.

She tried reaching for the surface now miles above her one last time, her hand certain to find nothing but water. But then it didn't and she seemed to feel something else. The soft cushions of the couch she must've been laying on appeared underneath her grasp as she slowly began to regain control of her limbs. She could feel every single individual fiber brushing themselves against her hand which was accompanied by the sound of her name growing louder.

"Maggie!"

The next thing she knew, Esme was down underneath the waves with her. As Maggie lay helplessly on the couch, which seemed to be physically impossible for being underwater where gravity worked much more obscurely, she could see the shape of Esme's figure leaning over her with each one of her hands on her shoulders.

"I'm dreaming," she thought, now acutely aware that she was stuck between being awake and asleep while both pulled her with so much force that it ultimately jammed her body into a paralyzed state. "Move, move, please!" She tried willing her hand to grasp for the cushions underneath her again, for her body to sit herself up, for her legs to kick against the water, anything. But her body was now unreachable in itself and her begging began to morph into commands of frustration.

"Move! MOVE!"

Then the water parted as she finally did. And when she next opened her eyes she found herself tightly wrapped around the kind woman at her side, arms clinging to her with a ferocity she had never experienced before. It both scared and relieved her as she realized she was now awake. Terror (her usual reaction to these occurrences) would usually have been the only emotion coursing throughout her body at a moment like this, but feeling the warmth of Esme covering herself up around her gave her this amazing new sense of contentment which calmed her nerves.

"Maggie, it's okay now. You're awake," she heard words of comfort being whispered in her ear repeatedly as she took the moment to take in deep breaths. Breathing did nothing now for the newly turned vampire, but the feeling of being able to control her body's movements was invigorating.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried once she felt her voice coming back to her. "That happens to me sometimes, I should've told you earlier but since I woke up it hasn't and I was just hoping that it never would again."

"It's alright, but hold on," Carlisle reluctantly had to break up the duo in order to look over his newest patient. And he had a bizarre diagnosis in his mind. "Maggie, are you narcoleptic?"

"Yes.. ever since, well, it's a long story but how long was I out?"

"Two, three minutes max."

"Alright, but.. why is there water all over the floor?"

The Cullens looked at the puddle of water which had finally stopped growing, at Maggie, and then to each other. "We were hoping you could tell us that."

Author's notes: Maggie's narcolepsy and how her condition will affect her as an immortal will be further explained in the next chapter. Personally, I suffer from narcolepsy and cataplexy as well so her nightmare/hallucination and sleep paralysis was based off of my own experience suffering from the disorder.


	3. Chapter 3

Three months later

Esme

The amount of time that had passed since Maggie was first welcomed into their home was usually a blink of an eye for most people. Humans could always be counted on to say, "Wow, summer went by so fast," or "I can't believe it's the start of a new school year already" this time of year as September was about to roll in and kids were preparing to head back to classes. Parents were snapping shots of their kids on the first day, much to many students's dismay (especially the older ones which were becoming way too cool for such childish things now), and incessantly crying about how the little ones grew up so fast and that they would freeze time if they could.

For the Cullens, however, it should have felt even quicker; less memorable considering the fact that each of the "kids" had experienced several dozen first days of school but this one was definitely worth pulling out all of the stops for.

"Emmett, you're not leaving until we get a first day of school picture outside," Esme stopped him as he was reaching for the keys from the bowl.

"Seriously? You know we're basically going to go in there and quietly keep to ourselves like we do every year, right?"

"Come on, this is really important to Maggie and I know you're not actually in any kind of rush to get there," she quickly shuffled him along through the front door where Carlisle had set up a camera and tripod a couple of yards away from the house, opposite to where the rest of the family had grouped together. Esme couldn't help but smile seeing Maggie, their newest member, engaged in conversation with her siblings before enthusiastically sending them off to Forks High.

She was still a newborn and probably wouldn't be allowed to attend school with the others for the next few years at the very least but Maggie was excited to at least have the ability to live vicariously through the others. Hearing stories about high school drama or whatever gossip was running through Forks's teenage population would definitely be good for her to hear after three months of being cooped up inside the house. She was desperate to know what was going on in the outside world but obviously didn't want to risk putting anyone in danger either, so this was the closest she could get for now.

"Promise me you'll bring home extra copies of your assignments so I can do them?" She held her small pinky finger up to Alice who simply laughed in response before shaking it.

"Of course! I don't know why you'd want to put yourself through a high school English literature class on Chaucer but be my guest! You can even do my homework for me if you want."

"Well, I really don't have much else to do. And it's not like I can just sleep whenever to pass the time anymore either," she shrugged, quietly laughing at her own situation. How different things used to be just three months ago when she could spend more time sleeping than anything else, yet still feel exhausted and drowsy. Nowadays, napping was more of a hobby for Maggie who was still in amazement trying to process the fact that narcolepsy didn't rule over her entire life anymore.

Since the incident with her fainting and the floor suddenly becoming wet, no other sleep attacks had occurred, though Carlisle was still suspicious that it could happen again if Maggie was ever triggered by a sudden, extreme emotion like fear or anger. In the last three months with the Cullens, she'd felt like she was much more in control of her life and wakefulness despite being a slightly peculiar case amongst vampires. They still hadn't figured out exactly how much her condition of narcolepsy now influenced her second life but unlike her human state, which was constantly disrupted by exhaustion (a consequence of her inability to get any productive sleep no matter how many hours she got at night), she rarely felt tired. It wasn't like she needed to sleep and she could potentially go throughout her indefinite existence without ever shutting her eyes again, but there was just a little vibration in the back of her head that buzzed a little too loud if she went too long without a short nap. Staying awake wasn't impossible but it was a nuisance that ate away at her emotional state. If she went a month without a break of a few minutes of sleep in between time she'd get noticeably crankier. Maggie would become more irritable and, as a result, also lost a lot of her self control when it came to her thirst. And that was something they definitely did not want to risk.

They found that Maggie could easily relieve vampiric equivalent to exhaustion by taking a few minutes to nap every two weeks or so. The duration was usually 5-7 minutes with 10 being the absolute longest she could stay asleep. It was usually a lazy Sunday afternoon when she'd lightly tug on Esme's arm and look up at her with those big brown baby eyes of hers to signal that it was time for her to lie down. And each time, Esme would gladly allow the young one to pull her into her bed (the first an only one ever actually needed for sleeping purposes in the Cullen house) and cuddle up to her before drifting off into a realm mysterious to all others of their kind.

Esme had always been a cheery, tender spirit; the epitome of a devoted mother, but even Carlisle had never seen her in a more naturally maternal state before Maggie came along. Sometimes her naps would be preceded by some soft humming or even singing on Esme's part, which tended to lead to relatively dreamless sleeps for Maggie. This usually prevented random things from spontaneously popping up and out from her imagination.

As a narcoleptic human, Maggie had always had vivid dreams and unfathomably realistic hallucinations or nightmares. As a vampire, her tendency to dream had been greatly subdued, but every once in a while her mind would wander off in its sleep to a place she had been thinking of earlier. The first time she'd taken a nap after the water incident was shortly after Carlisle and Esme had been describing one of their anniversary trips to Yellowstone. She'd unconsciously gotten swept up in the vision of tall, breezy grass fields filled with wildflowers and inhabited by giant fluffy bison roaming across the sun setting in the distance. Luckily, only a few tiny dandelions and other harmless flowers sprouted up around her pillow as a result. No bison this time.

"Just promise you won't dream of some freaky 'Canterbury Tales' shit and flood the house again," Emmett playfully teased at her, sticking his tongue out. Maggie had quickly become the little sister he had always longed for. She was certainly the only one in the family with a similar enough childlike attitude to keep up with all of Emmett's pranking without getting too annoyed by his immaturity, which made them a dangerous duo. Rosalie was by far their favorite person to mess with even if the consequences were terrifying to face afterwards. Just last week they had carefully replaced her hairspray with bright orange spray paint and then spent the next few days being chased by an shrieking, angry ginger all around the house.

"If I do, your room is getting flooded first," Maggie rolled her eyes at the big buffoon she was surprised to be able to call her brother. Usually loud individuals like Emmett were nothing but intimidating to her and she'd spent almost all of her human life avoiding those that reminded her of him. But in her second life, she'd found Emmett to be the most chill in the family and he seemed to capture all of the positive possibilities that awaited their kind. He often took her exploring and they could find themselves wasting hours flipping from the tops of mountains and parkouring through miles of the wilderness. Esme and the rest of the Cullens had all noticed that he definitely brought her out of her shell.

"I don't foresee that being a problem," Alice said with a smile.

"Well, if you ever do see it becoming a possible problem then it stops right away because I will NOT tolerate water damage to my room and especially not my closet," Rosalie towered over her with the white stiletto heels she had chosen for their first day of school. "You all are lucky the orange paint was able to wash out of my hair by today or else Emmett wouldn't be going to school either."

"Rosalie, back row please," Carlisle stood behind the camera trying to organize all of them by height. When they all finally settled in with Maggie and Alice at the very front, Esme just behind Maggie with her hands on her shoulders, Jasper holding Alice with Edward standing next to him, and Rosalie plus Emmett in the back, Carlisle pressed the timer button and walked on over to Esme's side and each of them then smiled. A few quick flashes of light burst from the camera.

"Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward? Watch over Jasper, okay?" Esme quickly hugged each of her children while reminding them to steer the newest vegetarian convert away from the humans if it ever got too bad for him. There hadn't been an incident in quite a while but a few recent close calls had them worried. Esme also knew that it was eating at his self-esteem though. "You can do this, honey," she gently brushed her hand against his cheek and he gave her an encouraging smile.

"Thank you very much, ma'am," he slipped into his southern gentleman's accent which happened every once in a while. He and Alice then got into their car and drove off behind Emmett and Rosalie's before being followed by Edward's. They had headed off to school, Carlisle was about to leave for the hospital, and the two remaining Cullens would have the house to themselves for the next few hours.

Maggie

"I could hunt, take a shower, and then do my piano practice," Maggie suggested as the two entered the downstairs living room. Edward had been teaching her how to play the piano and she was meant to practice on her own for two to three hours each day.

"Oh, honey, I don't know about that," Esme hesitated to say yes. Every time that she'd been outside it had been with Emmett and Jasper nearby as well. Emmett had never had to use force before but he was, in fact, the strongest of the group and the most capable of restraining the newborn if she got out of control and Jasper could also help control her emotions to an extent. If it was just Esme accompanying her this time then it would be the first. She looked out the windows and into the forest before them. Grey clouds were covering up the sun as usual but it hadn't rained in the past few days so that also meant the mountain was relatively dry. That meant people could certainly be hiking nearby. "Humans could be enjoying the outdoors on a day like today and I just don't think it's completely safe."

"Esme, please?" Maggie was insistent and couldn't imagine herself not going crazy today if she spent the whole time waiting for the others to get back home. "Carlisle's been bringing home some of his dirty scrubs from the hospital. The blood residue is basically harmless to me now and you know I wouldn't risk it if I thought I might hurt somebody." She tried her best to keep a straight, serious face. Even though she'd struggled with being assertive when making decisions before, there was this inexplicable newfound strength inside of her which brought her self confidence to the surface. Her body wasn't really her body anymore; at least, not the body she had known for the last 16 years but she had also never been this in touch with her senses before either. She felt as if she could do anything in this new body so long as she willed it in her mind.

"Alright," she smiled seeing how happy Maggie was as she jumped up and down with excitement. "But I'm coming too and I want you at least 30 feet within range at all times, okay?"

"Yes, of course, just thank you! Thank you, Esme!"

She quickly tied up her newest favorite pair of sneakers and was out the front door as soon as she saw Esme following close behind. Nothing felt more freeing than the wind blowing back her hair as she ran against it with such power. She was like a force of her own, unstoppable by nature itself. And even after months of experiencing this she still couldn't help but laugh as she sprinted along. It was actually a pretty bad habit of hers keeping her mouth open when she ran. If it weren't for her precise vision, she probably would have accidentally run into a swarm of bugs and swallowed dozens of them by now. The wind also helped her to hunt since it picked up various scents from her surroundings. Today a flock of geese flying in from the north appeared on the menu but Maggie only sniffed the air with disappointment, searching for something else. She needed something more substantial than poultry and was at least hoping that there would be some deer in the nearby clearing.

Then she caught a whiff of something else. Well, it was more like she was hit by the scent considering how strong it was. Maggie stopped in her tracks, immediately pivoting her body 90 degrees towards the direction her nose was being pulled towards. It was definitely a large animal; the red meat she was looking for, though it wasn't something she could make out right away. It was giant whatever it was and at first Maggie was convinced that it was a cougar she had targeted but then the scent did the strangest thing. It soured.

Her nose crinkled up into her disgusted face the same way it used to when she caught the smell of expired milk, but worse. This time it was like the chunks of milk were just one individual ingredient in some sort of rotting disaster dish along with spoiled eggs and molding bread. But despite the mystery meat slightly turning off her appetite, there was something else still laced in there that had her mouth watering. As she trotted closer towards its origin the faint thumping of its pulse grew stronger and stronger along with her desire, which had now completely undertaken her mind. The only thing that stood in her way was a fairly wide gorge with a seemingly intimidating stream cutting through it. It was too small to be considered a river, but the jaggedness of the rocks surrounding it and the sheer speed at which the current seemed to slice through the middle made it more than just a simple hop over a puddle. But as the venom began pooling in her mouth it was like it gave her the strength to accelerate even faster as she raced towards the edge. The beast on the other side was bigger than any other creature she'd hunted before but that wasn't going to stop her. She had latched on to the scent of its blood. That meant that it was hers. Even when the animal finally turned around, noticing her about to pounce, its vicious snarl and strange intensity in its eyes didn't stop her. Just as she felt her feet lifting off of the ground, something else did. And it hit her like a bus.

Esme

As soon as she saw her turning her body from the corner of her eye, she knew she had lost her. For the first few milliseconds of time that passed in between, she hung on the prayer that it was just a bear or some other predator she had caught the scent of. Whatever it was, Esme certainly wasn't going to be able to outrun her. Still, she hoped that she wouldn't have to; that it was just an animal a little bit larger than usual that would satisfy her thirst before they could quickly return home without a trace. But then she smelled it.

"Maggie, no!" She screamed to no avail. Her cries begging her to stop might as well have been yelled at a waterfall or a hurricane. Esme felt herself falling apart from the inside as she watched the girl that was so precious to her near the edge. She moved very much like a storm and shared its disregard for borders and boundaries but, unfortunately, the wolves didn't. And they wouldn't be so forgiving of her nature. In turn, Esme didn't think she could ever forgive herself if they touched her so she stood there petrified by the whole sense that she, an immortal and nearly all-powerful being, had somehow fallen flat to the helplessness of fate. She wanted to scream at herself. She wanted to scream at the world, cry for help, something, anything!

With a flash of light passing by, it was like her prayers were answered. Esme knew it was Edward just from how fast he moved as he came in from the east sprinting straight at the thirst-driven newborn. She gaped with a cry breaking through the breath she was holding as she watched him hurl his body like a catapult at Maggie who was going in for her prey like a missile. Luckily, with the element of surprise on his side, Edward was able to just intercept the smaller vampire before her feet could touch down into Quillete territory. As he began to take her down with him, Emmett came in full speed from the same direction Edward had come from and just at the right moment too. Surprised but still in primal mode, Maggie had only been set back momentarily after Edward shoved the both of them straight into a truck sized boulder before she brutally pushed him to the side with a loud hissing sound. She was just about to reset her body and leap back into the air when Emmett tackled her head on. In an instant, all of the momentum she was focusing was suddenly thrust backwards along with the rest of her body which drove straight through the boulder behind her like it was as flimsy as cardboard.

"Emmett, quickly!" Another voice sounded from nearby. Whipping her head towards the speaker, Esme's eyes almost relaxed in relief when she saw Alice and Carlisle darting towards them. In the next second, her mate was by her side, stroking her arms comfortingly as she tried to sputter out a billion of the thoughts rolling through her mind.

"It's all my fault," she held onto Carlisle letting him hold up some of the weight she was having trouble with on her own. A dizziness had overcome her senses and she couldn't keep herself steady. "I should've never let her leave the house."

"It's alright. Alice saw it on time… hopefully," he tried to assure his mate best he could while also trying to remain as vague as possible. Because in truth, Alice had only seen that Maggie was in trouble somewhere near where the two territories met up. She hadn't exactly seen how it ended or would have ended at the time but he knew he had to keep that information from Esme for as long as possible. He already frowned seeing how badly she was beating herself up

"Try to calm her down!" Edward yelled, finally able to pick himself back up. The distinguishable cracks that blemished his marbled cheek looked painful but he was still able to bark orders. On cue, Jasper swung down from up above in the trees as Emmett wrestled to get Maggie's arms behind her. Alice catapulted herself on top of her shoulders and tried to force her down to the ground with her weight, but the newborn bucked back like a wild stallion, still trying to throw them off of her. Everyone stared intently at Jasper as he began to focus his complete attention on the newborn in front of him. With her eyes dilated and teeth showing Maggie was barely recognizable. No one could tell if it was working or not.

"Esme, we need you over here," Jasper spoke loud enough to convey the direness of the situation but was still somehow able to keep calm. Nodding at her mate to show she was fine, Esme tried to follow his lead and kept as relaxed of a demeanor as possible as she approached Maggie. Emmett and Alice had her wrestled down to her knees but the screams of panic and pain that only got louder as she neared closer were unbearable to hear. By this point, the wolf who had remained in place and fiercely guarded the border had already signaled the rest of the pack. It was only a matter of time before more wolves showed up and they needed to get Maggie out of there before that happened.

"Maggie, it's alright, shhhh," she tried to soothe her into calming down. But it was like she was speaking to a stranger; her thirst had overtaken her entire perception and she was unable to recognize anyone. Family, friend, enemy, or foe, none of that mattered anymore. She only saw her prey and those that stood in the way of it. "It's Esme, darling. I love you, please, calm down."

As she cooed the little one's screams down and her struggling gradually subdued, it seemed like she was getting through to the Maggie on the inside and she was surfacing back to her old self. Timid and unsure while it was all happening, Emmett subconsciously began to loosen his grip ever so slightly upon seeing that Maggie was settling down. Both Jasper and Edward, who knew the importance of never underestimating a newborn, cried to stop him at the same time.

"Emmett, NO!" They screamed just an instant too late. The other two boys immediately jumped into the scuffle as Maggie instantly reverted back to primal mode and began recklessly kicking at everything surrounding her. In the mix up, bodies scrambled to push her back down all at once, making individuals impossible for the newborn to distinguish. And in the chaos as she flung her limbs like weapons at everything around her, Esme felt a sharp kick to her abdomen and the brute force sent her flying backwards and over the wrong side of the border.


End file.
